A Prayerful Life is a Powerful Life (A Prayer-less Life is a Power-less Life)
By Josephine Lim Weston
Philippians 4:6-7
6 Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your [specific] requests known to God.
7 and the peace of God, that is surpassing all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.
These past weeks God has been prompting my heart to pray more often. I believe God is calling His church to pray more too. I realised that the more I pray throughout the day (as I continue doing whatever I'm doing while praying at the same time) not only my faith grows but I have more peace in my heart. About two weeks ago, I realised that my kidneys were aching so I just prayed over my kidneys and declared that they are healed in Christ Jesus and commanded the pain to be gone and gave thanks to God for His healing grace. Then I forgot about it until the next day that I realised the pain had gone. This proves that a prayerful life is a powerful life. We will see more miracles happen so naturally and effortlessly.
God has also prompted me of the power of "Talk Less and Pray More". This is undeniably powerful especially in marriage and in any relationship. It's so easy for us to point out and quick to rebuke our spouse or anybody when things go wrong or done in a way that we disapprove of. I've learnt that it's more powerful for us to pray to God as He is the best person in transforming people, rather than us. We can't change people but God can. He knows how to handle people as God is our creator. It's also important to note that it's definitely not wise to complain and confront someone when we're angry as it only makes matters worse. Nobody will hear us or accept our views when we're angry or disgruntled even though we might be right. So best is to talk less and pray more. Praying for God's transforming power to take place on that person and also pray over the situation and then let peace of God reigns in your hearts. God will then grants us the wisdom to approach the situation.
Prayer magnifies the peace and rest within our hearts. The more we pray (fellowship with God - thanking and praising God) the more our hearts are at rest. We will worry less and not easily troubled or afraid because we are more aware of God's presence in our hearts and in our lives. After all Jesus is the Prince of Peace, He came to give us peace (John 14:27).
Last Saturday, my husband was about to go for his usual run hence he asked me where is the spare key for our house front door (as the spare key only has one key attached to a key fob). I thought I had it in my winter jacket pocket but it wasn't there. I remembered that I dropped my jacket on the floor when we came home from shopping and I was sure that I had retrieved everything that fell out from my pockets. So I thought I must have dropped the spare key in either one of the two supermarkets we went that day. I began to pray and ask the Lord for a miracle. I searched everywhere several times and still couldn't find the spare key. So my husband went on his run while my "quick-thinking" mind decided to call the two supermarkets to enquire just in case someone handed in our spare key. The supermarkets said there weren't any keys being handed in. I was disappointed but I knew in my heart there's no need to worry because if we need to have a spare key we can always duplicate the key. Then came my son wanting me to carry him and I could smell something as if his nappy needed changing; so I proceeded to get ready to change his nappy. I got hold of the TV remote control to turn on the youtube to play his favourite Dave & Ava or Little Baby Bum (to make him stay put while I change his nappy). Well, the internet connection took a long time to connect and kept saying "no internet connection" so I went over to the back of the TV to make sure all cables were plugged in properly and that's when I saw our house spare key hidden behind the TV because my son for the past few weeks has been putting things behind our radiators, TV and cabinets. I was so happy that we finally found the spare key and realised my son must have been pretty quick to pick up the key when he saw the key fell out from my pocket. Indeed God is good. You know what? His nappy didn't need changing as God must have played tricks with my nose to lead me to find the spare key quicker than expected.
So let us pray more. Cultivate God's presence in our lives. People who say they are powerless: usually the answer for them is to pray more. It's time to present our requests to God more often and continue to do so until we see our breakthrough. Don't think that we're too busy to do so or God doesn't like it when all we do is come to Him with our prayer requests. In fact, God loves it whenever we come to Him with our prayer requests because He is a generous, loving and gracious God who cares for us much more we could possibly imagine. By coming to Him with our prayer requests continuously shows that we acknowledge His lordship over our lives and our faith in Him. It rejoices His heart. All He wants is to be near us and be the Shepherd of our lives (Psalm 23). So do know He is never too busy and neither should we be.
It's important to note that prayer is not a one-off. Prayer is not a duty either. Prayer is fellowship with God that brings us closer to Him. The more we pray the more restful we become hence faith rises. A prayerful life becomes a powerful life. The adverse happens when we lag in prayer and that's when we feel powerless.
Prayer is and should be a declaration of our faith. "The most powerful prayer is prayer of thanksgiving. Even when we partake of the Holy Communion it is to celebrate and give thanks for what has already been done for us by our Lord Jesus Christ (we are now forgiven and healed)" - Pastor Joseph Prince.
I would love to share this beautiful song with you:
Did You Ever Talk to God Above?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9J6waHy1l9U&index=1&list=PLsX8EK5ujFukZku7OupOUkQ1ySZ2bJ3ll
Lyrics: Frances Towle Rath
Music: Greg Soule
Did you ever talk to God above?
Tell Him that you need a friend to love.
Pray in Jesus’ name believing
that God answers prayer.
Have you told Him all your cares and woes?
Ev’ry tiny little fear He knows.
You can know He’ll always hear
And He will answer prayer.
You can whisper in a crowd to Him.
You can cry when you’re alone to Him.
You don’t have to pray out loud to Him;
He knows your thoughts.
On a lofty mountain peak, He’s there.
In a meadow by a stream, He’s there.
Anywhere on earth you go,
He’s been there from the start.
Find the answer in His Word; it’s true.
You’ll be strong because He walks with you.
By His faithfulness He’ll change you, too.
God answers prayer.
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